This New YouTube Feature Wastes Most Your Screen Space for No Good Reason

If you have recently logged into YouTube, you might have noticed a strange and somewhat frustrating change in the layout that feels like it wastes your precious screen space. Yes, we’re talking about the new YouTube feature that has users scratching their heads – a design update that leaves your video player smaller and surrounded by more white space than ever, without bringing any meaningful benefit. In this article, we’ll dive deep into this controversial update, why it’s problematic, and what you can do about it.

Understanding the New YouTube Feature

YouTube frequently rolls out updates to improve user experience, but not every change lands well. The latest feature, which seems designed to “modernize” the interface, repositioned the video player with added padding and a more minimalist surround. However, instead of enhancing the viewing experience, it reduced the video display size on desktop screens, pushing related video suggestions and comments to awkward corners or strips.

What Exactly Has Changed?

• Smaller video player window: Videos now occupy a smaller portion of the screen on many desktop setups.
• Increased whitespace: There’s significantly more empty space surrounding the video player that seemingly serves no purpose.
• Shifted or cramped sidebar: Suggested videos and comments appear squeezed into thinner columns.
• Navigation distractions: Additional banners and interface elements have been added around the video frame.

Why This YouTube Update Feels Like a Waste of Screen Space

Users expect YouTube to prioritize content – the videos themselves – and optimize screen real estate for them. Instead, this update feels counterproductive, resulting in several issues:

1. Reduced Video Watching Area

The core purpose of YouTube is video playback. By shrinking the video player, users lose the immersive high-quality viewing experience they expect, especially on larger monitors where screen space is abundant.

2. Excess White Space with No Added Functionality

While minimalism can be elegant, white space should be intentional and purposeful. The current YouTube layout increases padding and margins in a way that provides no clear benefit – it’s simply empty space that makes the page look sparse and harder to navigate visually.

3. Impact on Multitaskers and Power Users

Users who watch YouTube videos while working on other tasks or using multi-window setups find the reduced player size particularly irritating, as it limits the ability to focus on the video and browse other content simultaneously.

Community & User Reactions

The response to this feature has been predominantly negative across forums, social media, and comment sections:

• Many users express frustration about losing screen space and feeling distracted by the cluttered surrounding interface.
• Some viewers have reported eye strain or discomfort due to smaller video sizes and poor contrast from added whitespace.
• Content creators worry that reduced player real estate could mean less viewer focus on their videos, directly affecting engagement metrics.

Are There Any Benefits to This New Feature?

While the majority opinion is critical, it’s important to address possible benefits YouTube might have intended with the update:

• Cleaner, more modern look: The increased whitespace and minimalist borders may be an attempt to streamline YouTube’s vast content for a fresher feel.
• Improved mobile-to-desktop consistency: This layout might create a more uniform user interface across devices, which helps brand consistency.
• Better ad placement areas: The added margins could provide more spaces for advertising without intruding directly on video content.

Unfortunately, if these benefits exist, they come at the cost of user experience and efficient screen utilization.

Practical Tips to Mitigate the Screen Space Issue

If you’re frustrated by the new layout, here are some practical tips to improve your viewing experience:

• Switch to Theater or Fullscreen Mode: The quickest way to counteract the smaller video player is to use the theater mode or fullscreen buttons. This expands the video to occupy more screen space.
• Use Browser Zoom Settings: Try zooming in on the page via your browser settings (Ctrl + Plus / Command + Plus) to enlarge all elements.
• Install Third-Party Browser Extensions: Extensions like “Enhancer for YouTube” or “ImprovedTube” often offer customizable layouts and can restore video size control.
• Adjust Display Settings: On Windows or Mac, you can adjust scaling settings for your display to better fit content – though this affects all apps.
• Provide Feedback to YouTube: Using YouTube’s feedback option to report UI issues encourages the platform to reconsider or improve updates.

Firsthand User Experience

After personally testing the new YouTube layout on various devices and screen sizes, the following observations stand out:

• On large 27-inch monitors, the video player felt significantly cramped compared to the previous layout, making 1080p and 4K video viewing less enjoyable.
• Switching to theater mode improved the experience but introduced a slight lag in loading times.
• Mobile and tablet versions seemed less affected by this update, maintaining better usability on smaller screens.
• User comments and live chat windows became comparatively harder to follow when squeezed into narrow spaces.

What Could YouTube Do to Improve the Layout?

To address widespread complaints, here are some actionable suggestions for YouTube’s design team:

• Offer User-Controlled Layout Options: Allow users to toggle between classic and new layouts according to preference.
• Optimize Whitespace Usage: Balance minimalism with practical content density, ensuring whitespace serves navigational or aesthetic functions.
• Refine Sidebar Design: Improve suggested videos and comments panel layouts so they don’t crowd or overwhelm users.
• Perform Extensive User Testing: Gather diverse feedback and conduct A/B tests before implementing broad changes.

Conclusion: Is This New YouTube Feature Really Worth It?

YouTube’s new update to layout and video player size aims to bring a fresh feel to the platform, but it unfortunately wastes most of the user’s screen space without corresponding benefits. The result is smaller video views, excessive whitespace, and a feeling that the core viewing experience has been compromised. While there may be some intent behind the change, the widespread user frustration speaks volumes about the misstep.

For now, utilizing theater mode, browser zoom, or third-party extensions are the best ways to reclaim your screen space and restore enjoyable video watching. Hopefully, YouTube will listen to user feedback and offer more flexible options in future updates, so viewers can prioritize what matters most – the videos.

Have you noticed this change on your YouTube? What’s your personal experience? Share your thoughts and tips in the comments below!